Method and system for dynamically changing automobile insurance

ABSTRACT

A mobile device automatically determines the identity of a proximate automobile that has been activated, and further determines whether the automobile presently has active insurance coverage as one automobile of a multi-automobile policy. If the automobile has only base coverage, then the user is presented with a selection screen for activing coverage in order to comply with insurance requirements to operate the automobile on public roadways. Similarly, when the owner/user knows they will not be using the automobile for a long or indefinite period of time, then the active insurance can be turned off or transferred to another automobile on the multi-automobile policy.

CROSS REFERENCE

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 16/242,413,filed Jan. 8, 2019, and issued Aug. 18, 2020 as U.S. Pat. No.10,748,219, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a system and method fordynamically determining an active automobile for updating insuranceinformation for a plurality of commonly owned automobiles, and, moreparticularly, relates to verifying that a selected or indicatedautomobile covered by an insurance policy is in use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is not uncommon for a person or family to own multiple automobiles.Some people have a collectible or sport automobile in addition to acommuter automobile used for daily/weekday driving. Some people collectautomobiles and have several automobiles in their collection. Since eachautomobile is an asset, it is desirable to insure each automobile. Inmany jurisdictions insurance is required to drive an automobile onpublic roadways. Although some insurance companies provide a discountfor insuring multiple vehicles together on one policy, each automobileis essentially fully covered, even though it is not possible for aperson to drive more than one automobile at a time.

At the same time, insurance companies would like to offer morecompetitive discounts, but have no way of verifying which automobilecovered under a policy is being driven, driven the most, rarely driven,etc. Thus, they have to assume any car owned by a person could be drivenat any time.

Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art asdiscussed above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a method and system for dynamically changingautomobile insurance coverage that overcomes the hereinafore-mentioneddisadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of thisgeneral type and that allows a policy holder having several automobilesto select one or more for active coverage in order to drive theautomobile on public roadways, and to deactivate active coverage when anautomobile is not going to be driven by the policy holder.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, inaccordance with some embodiments a method for dynamically updating andverifying an active automobile designation for a multi-automobileinsurance policy that includes accessing, by a mobile device, insuranceinformation associated with an account maintained by an insurancecompany. The insurance information can include a plurality of vehiclerecords associated with an insurance policy provided by the insurancecompany. The plurality of vehicle records each include a data fieldindicating whether the corresponding vehicle is presently an activelycovered vehicle or a base covered vehicle. The method can furtherinclude displaying, by the mobile device, a plurality of interfaceobjects on a display of the mobile device, each one of the plurality ofinterface objects corresponding to a respective one of the plurality ofvehicle records. The method can further include receiving, at the mobiledevice, a selection of one of the plurality of interface objects. Theselection indicates that the vehicle corresponding to the selected oneof the plurality of interface objects is to be an actively coveredvehicle. The method can further include, subsequent to receiving theselection, the mobile device automatically acquiring, by other thanmanual entry, an identifier of the vehicle. The mobile device candetermine whether the received identifier corresponds to an activelycovered vehicle associated with the insurance policy. The mobile devicecan issue a notification indicating whether, based on the identifier,the vehicle is actively covered.

In accordance with a further feature, automatically acquiring theidentifier of the vehicle can include connecting to a personal areawireless network transceiver of the vehicle.

In accordance with a further feature, acquiring the identifier caninclude acquiring a media access controller address of the personal areawireless network transceiver as the identifier.

In accordance with a further feature, the personal area wireless networktransceiver can provide the identifier to the mobile device as a vehicleidentification number.

In accordance with a further feature, automatically acquiring theidentifier of the vehicle can include the mobile device connecting to atelematics unit of the vehicle and receiving the identifier from thetelematics unit.

In accordance with a further feature, the identifier provided by thetelematics unit can be a vehicle identification number of the vehicle.

In accordance with a further feature, automatically acquiring theidentifier of the vehicle can include connecting a personal area networktransceiver that is connected to an on board diagnostic connector of thevehicle and receiving the identifier from the personal area networktransceiver that is connected to an on board diagnostic connector.

In accordance with a further feature, automatically acquiring theidentifier of the vehicle can include performing an image recognitionprocess on an image captured by the mobile device and recognizing theidentifier in the image.

In accordance with a further feature, the image is an image of a licensetag of the vehicle, recognizing the identifier in the image can includerecognizing a license tag number of the license tag.

In accordance with a further feature, the image is an image of apictographic code associated with the vehicle, recognizing theidentifier in the image can include recognizing the pictographic codeand decoding information from the pictographic code to obtain theidentifier.

In accordance with some embodiments there is provided a method fordynamically updating information for an automobile insurance policy fora plurality of automobiles to indicate an actively covered one of theplurality of automobiles including receiving, at a mobile device, anidentifier associated with a specific automobile. The method can furtherinclude the mobile device transmitting the identifier to a policymanagement processor, the policy management processor being configuredto manage and determine a premium for a policy covering the specificautomobile and at least one other automobile. The method can furtherinclude, in response to receiving the identify from the mobile device,the policy management processor updating a record associated with thespecific automobile to indicate that the specific automobile is activeand in use. The method can further include the policy managementprocessor determining a premium based on the specific automobile beingactive for a period of time.

In accordance with a further feature, receiving the identifier of thespecific automobile can include the mobile device detecting a connectionto a personal area wireless network transceiver of the specificautomobile.

In accordance with a further feature, receiving the identifier caninclude receiving a media access controller address of the personal areawireless network transceiver as the identifier.

In accordance with a further feature, the personal area wireless networktransceiver provides the identifier to the mobile device as a vehicleidentification number.

In accordance with a further feature, receiving the identifier of thespecific automobile can include the mobile device detecting andconnecting to a telematics unit of the specific automobile and receivingthe identifier from the telematics unit.

In accordance with a further feature, the identifier provided by thetelematics unit is a vehicle identification number of the specificautomobile.

In accordance with a further feature, automatically receiving theidentifier of the specific automobile can include connecting a personalarea network transceiver that is connected to an on board diagnosticconnector of the specific automobile and receiving the identifier fromthe personal area network transceiver that is connected to an on boarddiagnostic connector.

In accordance with a further feature, receiving the identifier of thespecific automobile can include performing an image recognition processon an image captured by the mobile device and recognizing the identifierin the image.

In accordance with a further feature, the image is an image of a licensetag of the specific automobile, recognizing the identifier in the imagecomprises recognizing a license tag number of the license tag.

In accordance with a further feature, the image is an image of apictographic code associated with the specific automobile, recognizingthe identifier in the image comprises recognizing the pictographic codeand decoding information from the pictographic code to obtain theidentifier.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodiedin a method and system for dynamically changing automobile insurance, itis, nevertheless, not intended to be limited to the details shownbecause various modifications and structural changes may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scopeand range of equivalents of the claims. Additionally, well-knownelements of exemplary embodiments of the invention will not be describedin detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant detailsof the invention.

Other features that are considered as characteristic for the inventionare set forth in the appended claims. As required, detailed embodimentsof the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to beunderstood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of theinvention, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specificstructural and functional details disclosed herein are not to beinterpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as arepresentative basis for teaching one of ordinary skill in the art tovariously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriatelydetailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are notintended to be limiting; but rather, to provide an understandabledescription of the invention. While the specification concludes withclaims defining the features of the invention that are regarded asnovel, it is believed that the invention will be better understood froma consideration of the following description in conjunction with thedrawing figures, in which like reference numerals are carried forward.The figures of the drawings are not drawn to scale.

Before the present invention is disclosed and described, it is to beunderstood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose ofdescribing particular embodiments only and is not intended to belimiting. The terms “a” or “an,” as used herein, are defined as one ormore than one. The term “plurality,” as used herein, is defined as twoor more than two. The term “another,” as used herein, is defined as atleast a second or more. The terms “including” and/or “having,” as usedherein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term“coupled,” as used herein, is defined as connected, although notnecessarily directly, and not necessarily mechanically. The term“providing” is defined herein in its broadest sense, e.g.,bringing/coming into physical existence, making available, and/orsupplying to someone or something, in whole or in multiple parts at onceor over a period of time.

“In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, unlessotherwise specified, azimuth or positional relationships indicated byterms such as “up”, “down”, “left”, “right”, “inside”, “outside”,“front”, “back”, “head”, “tail” and so on, are azimuth or positionalrelationships based on the drawings, which are only to facilitatedescription of the embodiments of the present invention and simplify thedescription, but not to indicate or imply that the devices or componentsmust have a specific azimuth, or be constructed or operated in thespecific azimuth, which thus cannot be understood as a limitation to theembodiments of the present invention. Furthermore, terms such as“first”, “second”, “third” and so on are only used for descriptivepurposes, and cannot be construed as indicating or implying relativeimportance.

In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, itshould be noted that, unless otherwise clearly defined and limited,terms such as “installed”, “coupled”, “connected” should be broadlyinterpreted, for example, it may be fixedly connected, or may bedetachably connected, or integrally connected; it may be mechanicallyconnected, or may be electrically connected; it may be directlyconnected, or may be indirectly connected via an intermediate medium. Asused herein, the terms “about” or “approximately” apply to all numericvalues, whether or not explicitly indicated. These terms generally referto a range of numbers that one of skill in the art would considerequivalent to the recited values (i.e., having the same function orresult). In many instances these terms may include numbers that arerounded to the nearest significant figure. The terms “program,”“software application,” and the like as used herein, are defined as asequence of instructions designed for execution on a computer system. A“program,” “computer program,” or “software application” may include asubroutine, a function, a procedure, an object method, an objectimplementation, an executable application, an applet, a servlet, asource code, an object code, a shared library/dynamic load libraryand/or other sequence of instructions designed for execution on acomputer system. Those skilled in the art can understand the specificmeanings of the above-mentioned terms in the embodiments of the presentinvention according to the specific circumstances

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer toidentical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate viewsand which together with the detailed description below are incorporatedin and form part of the specification, serve to further illustratevarious embodiments and explain various principles and advantages all inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram for dynamically adjusting an automobileinsurance policy by turning on or off active coverage for a selectedautomobile or automobiles, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a connection diagram indicating several wireless connectionmodalities to connect a mobile device to an automobile in order todynamically adjust active insurance coverage for the automobile, inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 3 is an interface diagram for displaying an insurance coveragestatus for an automobile having dynamic insurance coverage, inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is an interface diagram for displaying a login screen to allow auser to dynamically change automobile insurance coverage, in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 5 is an interface diagram for displaying a selection screen forchanging active insurance coverage for an automobile, in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 6 is an interface diagram for displaying a selection screen forchanging active insurance coverage for an automobile and updating aninsurance record, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7 shows an image recognition process for verifying a coveredautomobile of a multi-automobile policy having dynamic active coverage,in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 8 is an interface diagram of a detection interface for detectingand verifying an automobile for a multi-automobile policy having dynamicactive coverage, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart diagram of a method for selecting an automobileof a multi-automobile policy having dynamic active coverage, inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart diagram of a method for verifying an automobileof a multi-automobile policy having dynamic active coverage, inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 11 is an interface diagram for accepting a premium upon activatingcoverage on an automobile of a multi-automobile policy having dynamicactive coverage, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart diagram of a method for determining a premiumchange when an automobile is selected for active coverage, in accordancewith some embodiments; and

FIG. 13 is a system diagram illustrating a technology for verifyingautomobile location and presence in order to turn off active coverage onthe automobile, in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While the specification concludes with claims defining the features ofthe invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that theinvention will be better understood from a consideration of thefollowing description in conjunction with the drawing figures, in whichlike reference numerals are carried forward. It is to be understood thatthe disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, whichcan be embodied in various forms.

The present invention provides a novel and useful technology fordynamically changing insurance coverage for an automobile insurancepolicy. In particular, it provides a technology that allows apolicyholder to turn coverage on or off on a given automobile covered ona multi-automobile policy. Since a person cannot drive more than oneautomobile at a time, a person who owns several automobiles would preferto not have to pay for full coverage on all of the cars they own at alltimes. A base coverage to protect against theft or damage is all that isneeded for an automobile that is not being driven. With the presentlydisclosed technology, a policy holder can dynamically select and “turnon” additional, active coverage for an automobile they intend to driveon a given day, and likewise turn off the active coverage upon arrivinghome.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram for dynamically adjusting an automobileinsurance policy by turning on or off active coverage for a selectedautomobile or automobiles, in accordance with some embodiments. Thesystem 100 includes equipment owned and operated by a policy holder, andequipment owned and operated by an insurance provider that providesautomobile insurance to the policy holder. The policy holder can own aplurality of automobiles 102, 104, 106. Each of these automobiles 102,104, 106 are road-worthy vehicle licensed and registered for use onpublic roadways, and are subject to an insurance policy which hasselectively activated coverage, subject to verification.

To enable (or disable) coverage on a given automobile 102, 104, 106, auser can use a mobile device 108, such as a tablet computer or acellular telephone device running an application program that presents agraphic user interface (GUI) including a plurality of interface objects110, 112, 114. The interface objects are GUI elements that cause apre-selected processing task to occur once selected by a user. In thisexample, interface object 110, 112, 114 each correspond to automobiles102, 104, 16, respectively. The GUI interface in which interface objects110, 112, 114 are presented is provided by an application programdesigned to allow a user to select an automobile covered by a baseautomobile insurance policy from among a plurality of automobilescovered by the base policy, and either activate (“turn on”) ordeactivate (“turn off) active coverage. As used here the term “activecoverage” refers to insurance coverage that allows the automobile to belegally driven on public roads, and which insures against risk ofcollision and liability for collision. Automobiles that are not beingdriven (e.g. left in a garage) do not need active coverage, but may havea base coverage that protects against theft or damage due to, forexample, weather events or other “acts of God.”

By selecting one of the interface objects 110, 112, 114, the user istoggling the state of active insurance for the automobile correspondingto the selected interface object. The mobile device 108 is able tocommunicate over a wide area network 118, such as the Internet, byaccessing, for example, a cellular data network 116, or a WiFi accesspoint 117, or any other known networking means. The mobile device, undercontrol of the dynamic insurance application program code, can connectto a web services data center 119 that includes an insurance server 120.The insurance server 120 can be an abstraction of front end web serviceequipment for interacting with client devices such as mobile device 108.The insurance server 120 relays requests, data, and other information toa backend 122, which includes a database. The backend 122 updates andmakes changes to insurance records, among other tasks. For example,there can be a policy record 124 for an insured entity (e.g. the ownerof mobile device 108). The policy record 124 can indicate the type ofcoverage and various coverage limits and deductibles, and can indicate aplurality of automobiles covered by the policy, as indicated inautomobile records 126, 128, 130, which can correspond to automobiles102, 104, 106, respectively.

The policy for the policy record 124 is a dynamic coverage policy,meaning that the insured entity can interact with the insurancecompany's web service server 120 to change a coverage status for acovered automobile from a base coverage to an active coverage, and havethe premium adjusted accordingly. In effect, the insured entity can“turn on” and “turn off” active coverage. For example, in the presentexample, the user of mobile device 108 is shown three GUI objects 110,112, 114 corresponding, respectively, to automobiles 102, 104, 106. Theuser wishes to turn on active insurance coverage for automobile 102, andGUI object 110 is shown highlighted, indicating that GUI object 110 hasbeen selected. Accordingly, the insurance company web service 119processes the selection as a request, and after the necessaryverifications (e.g. that the vehicle is covered and eligible for dynamiccoverage), the policy information is updated to indicate in record 126that the coverage for automobile 102 is now active, meaning covered forpublic roadway driving. Similarly, the insured user can turn off activecoverage when the user doesn't plan to drive the automobile on publicroadways.

FIG. 2 is a connection diagram 200 indicating several wirelessconnection modalities to connect a mobile device to an automobile inorder to dynamically adjust, or verify active insurance coverage for theautomobile, in accordance with some embodiments. For example, inautomobile 204, there can be several wireless components that can beconnected to by a mobile device 202. A common wireless component that isprovided in most automobiles presently manufactured is the audio system208. The audio system 208 can wirelessly connect to the mobile device202 to enable hands-free calling and playing music stored on the mobiledevice 202, for example. The wireless connection is typically performedusing the BlueTooth protocol, which is described under specification802.15.1 of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE),and which is known as a personal area wireless network (PAN) protocol.Another example of a wireless component can be a wireless telematicsunit 206, which can also use a PAN protocol for connecting to otherdevices, including mobile device 202. The wireless telematics unit 206can be mounted in the automobile 204 as an aftermarket component, andcan connect to the vehicle computer. In some cases the wirelesstelematics unit 206 can connect to an ODB port of the automobile 204.

In order to adjust or verify insurance coverage for the automobile 204,upon the user getting into the automobile 204 and turning it on, themobile device 202 automatically can connect to one of the wirelesscomponents 206, 208, and as a result, an insurance application programcan become aware of the connection. For example, in the Androidoperating system, the BlueTooth system updates a list of connecteddevices, and that list can be accessed by application programs. Uponconnecting, the wireless component 206, 208 provides its unique mediaaccess control (MAC) address to the mobile device 202. The MAC addressof the audio component 208 can be used to identify the automobile 204.The MAC address of the wireless telematics unit 206, can be associatedwith the automobile 204. A user can set up records locally in the mobiledevice 202 by associating one of the wireless components 206, 208 withthe automobile 204, and with user's insurance policy.

Upon detecting the connection to the wireless component 206, 208, theinsurance application program running on the mobile device 202 can checkto see whether the automobile 204 is presently being actively coveredunder a policy by accessing the insurance web service (e.g. 119 of FIG.1), and determining the present state of coverage for the automobile204. If the automobile 204 is presently covered for active coverage,then the mobile device 202 can indicate that the automobile 204 ispresently actively covered, as shown in FIG. 3, for example. If theautomobile 204 is not presently covered for active insurance, then theinsurance application program can prompt the user as to whether the userwants to commence active coverage of the automobile 204 such as bydisplaying a prompt stating, for example, “this vehicle is not presentlyon active coverage, do you want to activate coverage now?” and presentcorresponding “yes” and “no” radio buttons on the interface which can beused to by the user to indicate a selection.

FIG. 4 is an interface diagram 400 for displaying a login screen toallow a user to dynamically change automobile insurance coverage, inaccordance with some embodiments. Upon downloading and installing theinsurance application program, the user can enter their user name 402and password 404 in order to allow the insurance application program toaccess the user's insurance records and data. Upon logging in withauthenticated credentials, the user may be presented with an interfacesimilar to the interface diagram 500 of FIG. 5, in which each of theuser's insured vehicles are listed in GUI objects 502, 504, 506, forexample. Next to each GUI object for each automobile is a graphicaltoggle switch 508, 510, 512 that can allow the user to toggle the activecoverage on or off. In FIG. 5, all of the automobiles 502, 504, 506 areshown in a state of having only base coverage (or no coverage). Ifadditional automobiles are covered under the dynamic policy, then ascroll bar 512 can be used to scroll down the list to display additionalautomobiles.

FIG. 6 is an interface diagram 600 for displaying a selection screen forchanging active insurance coverage for an automobile and updating aninsurance record, in accordance with some embodiments. Using theinterface shown in FIG. 5, the user can toggle coverage from base toactive by actuating or interacting with the corresponding toggleelement. In the present example the user has changed toggle element 510from a base setting to an active setting. In response, the insuranceapplication program can graphically confirm the selection byhighlighting corresponding GUI object 504. The selection is transmittedby the mobile device to the insurance web service data center front endserver 602, which processes the selection through a backend 604 bychanging the status in the corresponding record 610 of the user's policy606. Other vehicle records 608, 612 remain in the base coverage state.Similarly, by actuating toggle element 510 again, the active coveragecan be turned off, assuming any minimum period for active coveragerequired by the policy provider has elapsed. Thus, FIGS. 5 and 6 showone example of how a mobile device can be used to interact with aninsurer to change the status of insurance coverage from a base level toan active status, and vice versa.

FIG. 7 shows an image recognition process 700 for activating a coveredautomobile of a multi-automobile policy having dynamic active coverage,in accordance with some embodiments. Some automobiles may lack awireless component to which the mobile device can connect to determinethe identity of an automobile. Older automobiles do not have a BlueToothenabled audio system, and the use may not wish to add a telematics unitto the automobile. However, a road legal automobile 702 will have alicense plate or tag 704 that uniquely identifies the automobile 702. Amobile device 706 running an insurance application program that accessesa camera of the mobile device 706 can capture an image 708 of the tag704. That it, the insurance application program includes an option tocapture a tag image, as directed by the user. The insurance applicationprogram is able call a camera application to capture the image 708. Oncecaptured, the image 708 is used by the insurance application programrather than being stored in an image gallery directory, as would be thecase if the user were taking snapshots to keep. Since the insuranceapplication program calls the camera application of the mobile device,the image captured is not a stored image, so there is a higherlikelihood that the image is of the actual license tag and that theimage was produced by the user holding the mobile device such that thelicense tag is in view of the camera at the time the image is captured,and therefore the user is in physical proximity to the automobile. Theinsurance application program can then perform an image recognitionprocess on the captured tag image 708 as indicated in process 710.

An image recognition step 712 is first performed to determine the tagnumber/identifier in alphanumeric text. In step 714 the insuranceapplication program running on the mobile device 706 can then comparethe recognized tag number with locally or remotely kept tag numberrecords for automobiles covered by the user's insurance policy. In step716 the insurance application program makes a determination as towhether the recognized tag number is one for a covered automobile. If itis not covered, or if coverage has lapsed, then the insuranceapplication program and can prompt the user and indicate that theautomobile is not presently covered with a dynamic policy in step 718.If the recognized tag number is the same as one that is covered by adynamic policy, then in step 720 the insurance application program canchange the coverage from a base coverage to an active coverage, and thenalert the user in step 722 to confirm the active coverage, such as bydisplaying text indicating such.

FIG. 8 is an interface diagram 800 of a detection interface fordetecting and verifying an automobile for a multi-automobile policyhaving dynamic active coverage, in accordance with some embodiments. Asindicated in FIG. 2, a mobile device 802 can automatically detect andconnect to one or more wireless components of an automobile. Forexample, the automobile can have a wireless audio system 804, a wirelessdongle 806 that can be connected to the automobile's OBD port connector,or a wireless telematics unit 808. Each of wireless components 804, 806,808 can communicate wirelessly, such as by using radio signals 810, 812,814, respectively, in accordance with an established communicationprotocol. Typically, the communication is performed using a commonlyknown PAN protocol such as BlueTooth, Zigbee, or similar knownprotocols. A detection module 816 of the insurance application programcan monitor, for example, a list of connected devices provided by theoperating system or communication stack of the mobile device 802, andevery time a new device is connected the detection module can compare anidentifier of the newly connected device to a list of identifiersassociated with covered automobile. For example, when a device such asaudio component 804 connects to the mobile device 802, a MAC address 818is transmitted to the mobile device 802, and specifically to thetransceiver of the mobile device used to communicate with the audiocomponent 804. The identifier 818 is obtained by the detection module816 and compared to known identifiers, either locally or the identifiercan be sent to a remote processor such as the insurance web service datacenter. Once the status of the automobile is determined, then theinsurance application program can proceed with the next step.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart diagram of a method 900 for selecting anautomobile of a multi-automobile policy having dynamic active coverage,in accordance with some embodiments. The method 900 can be performed,for example, on a mobile device or other computing device running aninsurance application program, or accessing an insurance web servicedata center using a browser. At the start 902 the user has a devicesuitable for connecting to the insurance web service data center,including, for example, an installed insurance application program orweb browser. In step 904 the user can log into an application program ona mobile device, or a login screen on a browser by providing, forexample, a user name and password. In step 906 the login credentials arepassed to the insurance web server front end server to log the user into the user's account. In step 908 any locally maintained records can besynchronized with the records of the insurance web service. That is, anddeletions or additions of automobile records, any changes in activecoverage, and so on. In step 910 a menu can be presented to the userthat shows the automobiles covered by the user's policy and theirpresent coverage status. The menu can include selectable interfaceobjects associated with each automobile covered by the policy. In steps912 and 914, the user can make a selection of one of the vehicle tochange its present coverage status from a base coverage to an activecoverage, and vice versa. Specifically, in step 914, a user selectioncan be received, and in step 916 the insurance status and record for theselected automobile can be updated, and the method can then end in 918.

When the user changes an automobile coverage status from, for example, abase status to an active status, a higher premium will be due reflectingthe higher risk associated with driving the automobile on public roads.After step 914 the method 900 can also prompt the user with a premiumamount due in order to activate the coverage, and the user must acceptand pay the premium in order for the active coverage to commence.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart diagram of a method 1000 for verifying anautomobile of a multi-automobile policy having dynamic active coverage,in accordance with some embodiments. Specifically, method 1000 uses amobile device that detects the presence of an automobile. Thus, at thestart 1002, the mobile device is powered on and running an insuranceapplication program. In step 1004 a short range wireless transceiver ofthe mobile device, such as a BlueTooth transceiver, commences lookingfor a beacon of the automobile's wireless component, and in step 1006the method 1000 determines whether a beacon is detected. The beacon issimply a signal transmitted by the wireless component; it can be anunsolicited beacon or a solicited beacon. A solicited beacon means thatthe wireless component responds to a transmission, and an unsolicitedbeacon means the wireless component transmits in an attempt to provokean answer/response from another device. Once a beacon is detected by themobile device, certain information is then acquired from the beacon,including an identifier. Alternatively the identifier can be acquired inresponse to a connection procedure where the mobile device and wirelesscomponent of the automobile establish a link in accordance with thecommunication protocol. Thus, in step 1008, the identifier of theautomobile, or the wireless component of the automobile, is acquired bythe insurance application program. Steps 1004-1008 can occur by, forexample, the automobile being started up, and powering up the wirelesscomponent(s).

In step 1010 the automobile insurance program determines the presentinsurance coverage status of the automobile and whether it presentlycovered. In step 1012 the method 1000 determines whether the insurancefor the automobile is presently in an active status. If the automobileinsurance status is presently active, then the method can proceed to theend 1020 on the assumption that the user will be driving the automobile.If, in step 1012, however, it is determined that the automobile is notpresently under an active coverage, then the method 1000 can proceed tostep 1014 where the mobile device can prompt the user to determine ifthe user wants to turn on active coverage for the automobile. In step1016 a user selection or input is evaluated to determine whether theuser has selected to turn on active coverage or not. If not, then themethod proceeds from step 1016 to the end 1020, otherwise the methodproceeds to an activation process in step 1018 to change the insurancestatus of the automobile to active coverage. Step 1018 may includerequiring the user to pay, or agree to pay, an indicated premium amount.

FIG. 11 is an interface diagram 1100 for accepting a premium uponactivating coverage on an automobile of a multi-automobile policy havingdynamic active coverage, in accordance with some embodiments. Theinterface diagram can be one that is rendered on the mobile devicedisplay 1102 in step 1018 of method 1000, for example. The interface candisplay an identity of the automobile that has been detected, in a namefield 1104, in response to the mobile device connecting to a wirelesscomponent of the automobile. In another portion or field of theinterface, a premium message 1106 can be displayed, indicating thepremium that will be charged (e.g. by the day, week, or other timeperiod) in order to change the coverage to active coverage. Interfacebutton selectors 1108, 1110 allow the user to accept or decline thepremium and active coverage. Thus, upon the user entering and turning onan automobile the is covered under the user's policy, but which does notpresently have active coverage, the user's device can display aninterface similar to interface 1100. Furthermore, the mobile device candetermine whether it is moving or not, such as by using satellitepositioning signals received at a satellite positioning receiver of themobile device, and if it is moving while connected t the wirelesscomponent of the automobile, and the user has not accepted the activecoverage conditions (e.g. the premium amount), the insurance applicationprogram can alert the user that active coverage is not in place, andthat the user is responsible for any potential claim that mightotherwise be covered by active coverage.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart diagram of a method 1200 for determining apremium change when an automobile is selected for active coverage, inaccordance with some embodiments. The method 1200 is performed at theinsurance web service data center, which is accessed by, for example, amobile device, during a requested change procedure. In step 1202 the webservice receives a request to change the coverage of an automobile to anactive coverage status. In response, in step 1204, the insurance webservice determines a premium adjustment that must be paid for the activecoverage. In step 1206 the user can be shown the premium adjustmentamount, and agree to pay (or actually commence paying) the premiumamount. such as by selecting “accept” at an interface on the user'smobile device during the process.

FIG. 13 is a system diagram 1300 illustrating a technology for verifyingautomobile location and presence in order to turn off active coverage onthe automobile, in accordance with some embodiments. An insurer mayenforce a policy provision that active coverage can only be turned offby the user when the automobile is at its home location. This can bedone by determining a location of the mobile device 1302 while it is inthe presence of the automobile 1308. For example, mobile device 1302 caninclude a satellite positioning receiver that receives positioningsignals 1306 from positioning satellites 1304. The vehicle presence canbe verified by, for example, the mobile device 1308 being connected to awireless component 1310 of the automobile 1308. Alternatively, theinsurance application program can be used to capture an image of theautomobile license tag to produce a tag image 1312. Because theinsurance application program controls the image capture, the usercannot use an old image. The tag number can be recognized from the tagimage to verify the automobile's presence at the time the image wastaken.

The insurance application program can provide an interface to allow theuser to turn off active coverage, and include, for example, a prompt1314 asking the user to confirm whether the user wants to turn offactive coverage. Interface elements 1316, 1318 can allow the user toagree or not with the prompt, inputting the user's selection. Inbackground processes the insurance application program can performlocation verification 1320 and presence verification 1322 to ensure thatthe mobile device is at an acceptable location to turn off activecoverage, and that the covered automobile is in the presence of themobile device as verified by either a wireless connection or the imageprocessing of the license tag. Once the insurance application programhas verified location and vehicle presence, then the insuranceapplication program can send verification information and the turn offrequest 1324 to the insurance web service, which in turn updates thepolicy record 1326 to indicate that the automobile is no longer underactive coverage.

Accordingly, the inventive embodiments disclosed wherein provide thebenefit of allowing multiple automobiles to be insured on a policy whereonly an actively used automobile has active insurance coverage, therebyallowing more competitive policies for owners of multiple automobiles.The embodiments further include a technology for allowing a user toselect which of their automobiles are actively covered, as well as toturn off active coverage. Further, a technology is disclosed that allowsfor identification of a vehicle being used, and verifying that insurancecoverage is active, and if it is not active, allowing a user to activecoverage in order to operate the automobile on public roads.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for dynamically updating and verifyingan active automobile designation for a multi-automobile insurancepolicy, comprising: accessing, by a mobile device, insurance informationassociated with an account maintained by an insurance company, theinsurance information including a plurality of vehicle recordsassociated with an insurance policy provided by the insurance company,wherein the plurality of vehicle records each include a data fieldindicating whether the corresponding vehicle is presently an activelycovered vehicle or a base covered vehicle; displaying, by the mobiledevice, a plurality of interface objects on a display of the mobiledevice, each one of the plurality of interface object corresponding to arespective one of the plurality of vehicle records; receiving, at themobile device, a selection of one of the plurality of interface objects,wherein the selection indicates that the vehicle corresponding to theselected one of the plurality of interface objects is to be an activelycovered vehicle; subsequent to receiving the selection, the mobiledevice automatically acquiring, by other than manual entry, anidentifier of the vehicle; the mobile device determining whether thereceived identifier corresponds to an actively covered vehicleassociated with the insurance policy; and the mobile device issuing anotification indicating whether, based on the identifier, the vehicle isactively covered.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein automaticallyacquiring the identifier of the vehicle comprises connecting to apersonal area wireless network transceiver of the vehicle.
 3. The methodof claim 2, wherein acquiring the identifier comprises acquiring a mediaaccess controller address of the personal area wireless networktransceiver as the identifier.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein thepersonal area wireless network transceiver provides the identifier tothe mobile device as a vehicle identification number.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein automatically acquiring the identifier of the vehiclecomprises the mobile device connecting to a telematics unit of thevehicle and receiving the identifier from the telematics unit.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the identifier provided by the telematicsunit is a vehicle identification number of the vehicle.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein automatically acquiring the identifier of the vehiclecomprises connecting a personal area network transceiver that isconnected to an on board diagnostic connector of the vehicle andreceiving the identifier from the personal area network transceiver thatis connected to an on board diagnostic connector.
 8. The method of claim1, wherein automatically acquiring the identifier of the vehiclecomprises performing an image recognition process on an image capturedby the mobile device and recognizing the identifier in the image.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the image is an image of a license tag of thevehicle, recognizing the identifier in the image comprises recognizing alicense tag number of the license tag.
 10. The method of claim 8,wherein the image is an image of a pictographic code associated with thevehicle, recognizing the identifier in the image comprises recognizingthe pictographic code and decoding information from the pictographiccode to obtain the identifier.